Book Of Onyx
by Weaver the 8th
Summary: The gems travel to a decrepit old magic library where they come in search of a book called Onyx. The book of Onyx proves to be more then just any old magic book like Steven assumed it was. The book proves to be something far more alive, and far more important.
1. Magical Reference Library

The transportation pad suddenly accepted a beam of light that came racing down towards it, and in the midst of the light formed four figures. A thin, and tall woman with a gigantic gem in her forehead walked off the pad and began to look quizzically at her surroundings. "My, this place is so much darker then it used to be... I thought that the incandescent orbs that hung from the ceiling would have still had at least another few centuries left to them before they dimmed down so terribly." Pearl held her forehead and gave a short groan, as she did a shorter, and more plump purple woman with wild long hair came up with a look of disinterest.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get the thing we came for." Amethyst yawned and headed on ahead, into the darkness ahead of her.

Pearl gave another groan and crossed her arms as she followed after Amethyst. "It should be somewhere near the center of the room. Just be careful of-" Pearl let out a gasp and ducked right as Amethyst came flying over her.

"Argh!" Amethyst then was caught by the tallest woman in the group, her hair was in a square Afro, and her thighs were large and powerfully built. Amethyst growled and jumped from Garnets hands and landed next to a chubby little boy in a pink shirt with a star. "Oh! Your gonna pay for that!"

Right as she said that a barrage of spears came flying out from the darkness. "No!" Pearl summoned a spear forth from her forehead and with a few quick spins and slashes she sent some of spears back.

As Pearl deflected as many of the spears as she could, Amethyst and Garnet too summoned there weapons too to deflect the flying spears. Garnet clenched her fists around her gems which turned into gauntlets, while Amethyst hit her chest and pulled out a whip.

Garnet and Amethyst jumped in front of Steven and quickly began punching and whipping at the coming spears. "What's going on?!" Steven shouted as he peeked around Garnet's leg, his eyes now becoming more adjusted to the darkness. He could see what looked like a large golem like creature with ten arms which each kept flinging spears from its back. "Wope!" Steven hid back behind Garnet as one of the spears passed through his hair.

"You two keep Steven safe! I'll try to distract it!" Pearl jumped up in the air dodging more spears and quickly ran through the barrage.

"Oh! What's she doing?" Steven again looked from Garnet's side, this time on the side closest to Amethyst who had slowed down her attacks on the spears to just an occasional flick of her wrist which sent the spears clattering to the ground and shattering into light.

Garnet scratched the side of her head, she herself holding one hand out in front of her deflecting only a few spears. "It got winded." Garnet didn't even have to stop the last few spears which clattered to the ground before they even reached them. There was a loud crash and a gust of wind that came and hit the group.

"Uh... that was weird." Amethyst glared off into the dark, over at a pile of what once was the golem. Pearl was looking down at it quietly, gently nudging it with her spear. "What's the deets P?!"

"Its power source just ran out. It looks like the overhead orbs aren't the only things running low on energy." Pearl came walking back over to the others, her arms crossed and her head pointed downwards. "I hope that the book hasn't gotten damaged or taken. The defense mechanisms here are in worse condition than we thought they would be."

"Wait, we're here for a book?" Steven came in between Garnet and Amethyst, who both looked down at him curiously. "Is this a magic library?!" Steven's eyes widened with stars twinkling in them. "Are there books with moving pictures that talk to you? Or do they have like some cool magic spells you can cast like turning a cat into two cats?"

Pearl blinked than looked over her shoulder. "Uh, not exactly. It is a magical storage space for books, but they are not meant to be taken out by anyone. In each of the books that line this place is a defense mechanism designed to keep intruders from coming in to steal the book in the center."

"Oh!" Steven nodded his head. understandingly "So its a magical _reference_ library."

"What, no. None of the books are supposed to be read they're..." Pearl sighed and looked down dejectedly. "Fine... library." Walking over to one of the books that were scattered about the area Pearl picked it up and opened it to reveal designs for a robot. "It looks like they've all begun to loose their power. With their creators gone... they've all begun to fall apart."

"Which is why we need to hurry and get it." Garnet raised her hands unclenched, and her gauntlets disappeared with a few specks of light floating up to the ceiling.

"Well put Garnet." Pearl delicately folded her hands together and nodded with a content grin.

The four walked through the shelves of books, which Steven was finally able to see clearly, thanks to his eyes adjusting entirely to the dark. "So what's so special about this book?" Steven froze as his foot kicked against something. Looking down he saw an opened book with a mechanical arm hanging out of it limply. "Wah!" Steven jumped back and landed into Amethyst's arms.

Smirking at Steven she gave an amused scoff. "What, the disembodied arm freaked you out?"

"Yes. Yes it did." Steven look back down at the book, which Garnet grabbed and lifted up. As she did, the arm just swung back and forth powerlessly. "Is it... dead?"

"It didn't have enough energy to get out of the book." Garnet yanked on the arm and the book poofed into nothingness, as did the arm. "Let's keep going."

Amethyst nodded and dropped Steven to the ground with a thud.

"Ouch! Amethyst..." Steven looked up at Amethyst, giving her a serious glare.

Amethyst gave a mischievous snicker and tumbled mid air over Steven. She then walked on with the other gems. "What, did you want to me to carry you all through this mission?"

"Of course not, don't be... wait. You'd do that?" Steven got up and dusted his pants off.

"Uh, no." Amethyst looked back at Steven and waved him on to follow. "Pick up the pace dude."

Steven nodded and ran after the others.

The group finally came upon a large circular area in the room that had bronze colored patterns etched into the ground looking like the sun shining forth from a tall pedestal that lay in the center of the area. Steven stopped at the edge of this place, his face slowly looking up at the pedestal which had the designs of people all together supporting the pedestal. "Wow, is that where the book is supposed to be?"

Pearl gave a contemplative grunt and slowly walked over to the pedestal, her feet kicking aside some stray books about. Some of them were open revealing pages torn apart, while others were shut with fingers and other robotic body parts hanging out. "This can't be right... the book was supposed to be at the top of the bronze iron pedestal. What happened to it?"

Amethyst cracked her whip and flicked it like a grappling hook, making it attach around the pedestal. "Only one way to find out." Amethyst then ran up to the top of the pedestal. Upon reaching the top, she uncoiled her whip and began surveying the area.

"Do you see it Amethyst?!" Pearl cupped her hands over her mouth in shock as she saw a gigantic segmented tail suddenly descend from the ceiling and hit Amethyst, sending her flying across the library with her wailing the whole way till there was a loud thud.

"Steven, hide back into the aisles!" Garnet turned her hands back into gauntlets and she launched herself at the ceiling hitting whatever it was that was up there. Steven quickly hid, but stayed close enough to watch what was going to happen.

There was a loud angry mechanical screech after Garnet punched whatever was up there and a gigantic robotic snake came falling from the ceiling. As it bent its body, Steven could see inside the robot a legion of other robot parts like arms bending with the snake's movements. Turning its head to Garnet, who landed on the other side of the room, it hissed and struck at her.

"It cannibalized the others to keep itself going!" Pearl shouted as she took out a spear from her forehead and launched it at the snake's eye making it recoil and let out an anguished shriek. "Its impressive that its so self sufficient, but its gone rogue now!" She back flipped away and was next to Garnet when she stopped. The two looked up at the snake as it leered down at them, opening its mouth wide to reveal revolving spikes in its throat. With another hiss it began to lunge at the prepared gems, when the sound of loud footsteps could be heard. The snake stopped and slowly looked down one of the aisles.

At first a sound came in softly, the sound of someone shouting, but it quickly grew louder and louder till a purple blur zoomed out of the the aisles. Amethyst rammed into the snake and sent it careening into one of the shelves, making it begin to domino around the library.

"Wow, that was awesome Amethyst!" Steven's eyes shimmered, but he then quickly lost his enthusiasm when he noticed that the shelves were all falling over and heading over to him. "Uh oh..." Steven launched himself out of his aisle right as it collapsed. On his stomach, Steven looked up at the snake that was wobbling about disoriented as Garnet leapt at its face, bashing it in making it look like a crushed can. The snake wobbled about a bit more before collapsing to floor, its body still thrashing about as the robotic parts inside of it kept whirring and trying to figure out what just went wrong.

"Oh Steven, are you all right?" Pearl ran over to Steven and helped him off the ground. "Amethyst!" Pearl turned her head to the purple gem and tightly hugged Steven who let out a soft gag. "You could have gotten Steven killed! What were you thinking?!"

"Hey, he's fine and we got the snake guy down for the count. Just drop it would ya?"

"Its okay Pearl, I'm fine." Steven looked up to Pearl, as he held onto her arms which were still holding him tightly. "So... what should we do about the book thingy?"

"Good question..." Pearl crossed her arms and looked contemplatively at the ground. Garnet slowly walked over to the still lashing snake and, after a jump into the air, came crashing down snapping it in two. It gave one last jerk, before halting movement forever. "If, someone, didn't wreck the library, it would be easier to search this place for the book!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes and transformed into a mouse. "Got it covered P." Amethyst then ran under the toppled over shelves and disappeared.

Groaning, Pearl began to rub the bridge of her nose. Garnet came over and looked around the destroyed library. Bending down, Garnet lifted up a fallen shelf, and with a gentle nudge she sent all the bookcases jolting up. After wobbling back and forth for a bit, the bookcases were back in their normal position.

"Show off!" Amethyst shouted down one of the aisles, leaving Garnet to just smirk and walk into another aisle.

"I'll be searching with Amethyst. Pearl, Steven, stay here. We don't know what else is out here." Garnet calmly walked on into an aisle, leaving Pearl and Steven in the center of the library.

Pearl glanced over her shoulder and grimaced as she looked at the snake. "This is so strange..." Pearl held Steven's hand and the two walked over to the snake. "Did this sentinel hide the book?"

"Maybe it ate it?" Steven look into the middle of the snake where Garnet had broken it in two. His face went pale as he looked in and slowly walked away. "I think I'll look around the circle area a bit more."

Pearl raised an eyebrow and walked over to where Steven had been looking. "Oh. That... is not pleasant... at least we know why there aren't many other robots in here." Pearl grimaced and held her head. "You may be right about it eating the book Steven... Stay here and if you need help call me. Pearl carefully maneuvered her legs into the snake and disappeared in it to begin her search.

Steven nodded his head and sat down at the base of the pedestal, which for some reason was still standing. "Got ya." Steven looked up to the ceiling where he saw a series of support beams, large enough to let the snake slither around over head. "Wonder how this place looked when its lights were still working?" Leaning back a bit more, there was a click and the pedestal suddenly toppled over. Steven's eyes widen, and looking behind himself he watched as the pedestal fell with a thud.

"Ow!" came an echoing reply.

Cringing Steven shouted out,"Sorry Amethyst!"

"It's good!" came her response.

Pearl peeked out of the snake and her mouth dropped. "Steven! What happened?!" Running over to him she looked down at where the pedestal used to be, her face growing calmer. "What... is that stairs?" Where the pedestal once was, laid an opening to a spiral staircase. " Garnet! Amethyst! Steven found something!"

The four stared down at the stairs quietly for a time, but Steven began to look at the others then back to the stairs then back to the others. "So... are we going to go down these stairs?"

"Darn tootin'! Amethyst pounded a fist into her palm and began to run down the stairs.

"How much more to this place is there?" Pearl walked calmly down the stair, a hand raised to her cheek.

Garnet began to walk down the stairs, silent, and Steven quickly followed last. As they reached the bottom, the gems stared up at a giant sphere of energy and inside of it was a black and white book with a black stone on the front of it, as well as what looked like ivory carved like vines wrapping around the book.

"At last! We found Onyx!" Pearl smiled and clapped her hands together. "Let's find a way to deactivate the force fiel-"

Amethyst jumped into the energy sphere and grabbed at the book then, with a mid air tumble, propelled herself back out. Her body was smoking, but she smiled smuggled at Pearl who glared at her. "You're welcome." With a smarmy grin, Amethyst tossed Pearl the book and began to head up to the stair entrance.

Pearl growled and tightened her grip on the book. "Amethyst, can't you just once wait and listen to me?"

Steven and Garnet stared at the force field which began to pulsate. Steven looked over at Pearl and frowned,"Uh... Pearl?" Garnet lifted Steven up over her head, slowly backing away from the force field.

"For all you know it could have activated some last ditch protection for the book. We should have been more careful." Pearl stomped her foot and glowered at Amethyst.

Amethyst stood at the entrance to the stairs and scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Chill Pearl, its all gonna be fine. If it was a trap, I'm sure that it would have activated a long time ago."

The force field began to condense into a humanoid form, its head pointed to the ground. Garnet was still walking backward, Steven and her staring quietly at the force field creature. "Move." Garnet said coldly, then turned about and jolted up the stairs.

Amethyst looked past Pearl, who looked over her shoulder, and the two gems' eyes widened. "Move! Move! Move!" Pearl ran at Amethyst and began to push her up the stairs right as the force field creature sent a blast of energy at them crumbling the entrance apart.

Amethyst began to run her own legs, and soon was now able to run without Pearl pushing her. "What is with all these freaky booby traps?!" Looking over her shoulder, Amethyst saw the force field trickle through the cracks in the rubble and began to fly after her and Pearl. "Aw no!" Amethyst transformed into a cheetah and wrapped her tail around Pearl and began to run up the stairs.

"Aaaaa!" Pearl and Amethyst came shooting out of the stairs, and as the did, Garnet quickly slammed the pedestal back into place. And with a click there was a sound of something banging against it. The gems quietly looked down at the pedestal's base as the banging continued with the sound of electrical shocks. There were no cracks in the pedestal luckily, and the group all relaxed their shoulders and gave a sigh of relief.

Pearl than smacked Amethyst's tail off her, and as she did Amethyst changed back to her regular form. "This is why you need to listen! If you paid attention to me, that thing wouldn't have woken up and tried to kill us!"

Amethyst shrugged and nodded. "My bad."

Pearl bubbled the book and sent it flying back to the temple. "Well, its over for now. We need to come back here and finish this thing after we send Steven back. We can't leave it with the possibility of it breaking free and wreaking havoc."

"Aw common, I'm sure Steven'll be fine if he stays. If he could handle the snake, I'm sure he'll be fine with this..." Amethyst grew quiet as the ground began to vibrate. Light began to jut out from the pedestal and, in an instant it blew apart shooting a column of light upward. The light arced over and landed next to Pearl and condensed into the creature that was attacking them earlier. With a backhand swipe it sent Pearl flying through the air like the snake did to Amethyst.

"Aaaaaa!" Pearl wailed until there was a thud.

Amethyst took out her whip and slashed at the force field, only for it to pass through it. "Dang it..." Amethyst was then smacked and sent flying next.

The force field took on an aggressive stance, while Garnet just stared stoically at it. Steven looked with a look of horror as the creature lunged at him and Garnet. Lifting Steven up Garnet spun about, dodging the force field.

"Garnet, what should we..." Steven grew quiet as Garnet made a bubble around him, then again she spun about dodging the force field. Steven gasped and his eyes grew starry once more. "I get to get bubbled again?" Garnet bopped the bubble and Steven vorped away, screaming as he watched the world around him blur and fly away from him. Once he got back to the bubble chamber, Steven found himself amongst all the other bubbled gems. "Oh, hey guys. 'Sup?"

Steven moved about a bit in his bubble and looked over to see the centipeedle's bubble floating on the other side of the room. "Hey!" Steven grinned broadly and began wave, and then his bubble popped. "Wha? Not again! Whoa!" Steven then fell down to the ground and landed flat on stomach. "Ow..." moaning Steven rolled onto his back and began rubbing his chest. Looking up with a pained expression, Steven face began to grow curious as he looked at one of the bubbles above him. The book was levitating above him peacefully, gently bumping into one of the other gem bubbles as it floated about. "Wonder why we needed to get you?"


	2. Getting My Historian On

Skipping down on the vacant road, Steven hummed to himself as he hurried down to the Big Donut. Pushing the door open, he flung a cheeseburger backpack over his shoulder and smirked over at The short blonde woman by the name of Sadie who was at the counter. " 'Sup!"

Looking up, the woman smiled warmly at Steven and leaned up against the counter. "Hey Steven, want the usual?"

"You know it! Plus a little extra." Steven continued to hum as he bounced about into the store. While looking around he casually took out his money, as he did this Lars left the crew room yawning. "Oh, hey Lars." Steven put the money on the counter and stood in place, though while standing he kept bouncing up and down with a huge grin on his face.

Sadie, the female cashier, cautiously looked at Steven as she placed the donuts into its bag. "So... anything cool happen...?"

"Yep~!" Steven kept bouncing up and down smiling widely as he continued to talk. "Me and my dad are having a little father son get together today!" Steven then began to count off each of the activities that he was to do with his father on his fingers. " We're going to the beach and cooking some hot dogs... sharing sage advice... play some music... talk about guy stuff...you know. That kind of thing."

"I thought you usually hung out with those gem girls." Lars leaned up against the counter and rested his head in his hand as he leered over at Steven.

"Oh, I spend a lot of time with them, but they have time set up so that I can hang out with my dad. And most everyone else in Beach City!" Steven opened his arms wide, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, that's nice." Lars said curtly then looked out of the corner of his eyes.

Sadie frowned at Lars, then looked down to Steven and smiled as she gave him his donut. "Well, I hope you have a fun day with your dad."

"I will!" Steven began to skip off, humming again.

"Sheesh... you really could use some tips on how to be a man." Lars scoffed and turned about and leaned his back against the counter.

Steven stopped at the door, and slowly looked back to him. Sadie was just standing there with a look of tired annoyance. "What do you mean by that?" Steven put on a critical look. With his hands on his hips, he walked back over to Lars, and leaned against the counter. The critical look on his face faded away and was replaced with one of confusion. "Seriously, what do you mean by that? I'm already a guy..."

"Psh... Come on Steven! You're always hanging out with those gem girls, its not surprising yours such a sissy." Lars laughed and crossed his arms. "You need a real manly guy to show you what it means to be a real man." Lars began to rub his chin and gave a smarmy grin. He began to pout when Sadie started to snicker.

"And are you giving him an example of a 'Manly guy'?" Sadie looked down to Steven and shrugged her shoulders as she shook her head.

"My dad's a guy, and I think he's pretty cool. And besides, none of the gems are sissy at all!" Steven crossed his arms and turned his head away from Lars indignantly.

"You really look up to those gals, right?" Lars turned about and began to stare down at Steven. "Tell me, do you have any guys you look up to as a mentor."

"My dad." Steven tilted his head and began to scratch his head. "Huh... I think he's the only guy I look up to as pillar of strength in my young life." Steven's eyes began to sparkle again as he held out his hands as if reaching for something.

"Uh-huh... right. Wait, only your dad?" Lars' eyebrows furrowed and he stood up straight and put on an imposing stance. "You must have at least one more cool guy you look up to for inspiration and guidance!"

"None that I can think of." Steven grabbed his donut and waved to the Big Donut employees. "Thanks for the donuts anyway! See you guys later.

"Steven wait! Aren't you forgetting some cool guy in your life?!" Lars' arm fell limply to his side as Steven skipped off humming again. Sadie began to open her mouth, but Lars quickly raised his hand up to her. "Not a word." Sadie pouted and moved Lars' hand out of the way. She then punched him in the arm making him flinch a bit. " Ow! What was that for."

"You said not a word, so I had to show my dislike for what you did in some form." Sadie walked off to the crew room and disappeared leaving Lars behind. "Please try not be a jerk with Steven, just for once. He's a real sweet kid and I don't want you trying to make him into a mini you."

"It'd be an improvement if you ask me." Lars, sighed and lowered his head to the counter. Once he was alone he looked over at his arm and flexed it. Grimacing, he let himself slide off the counter with his face pressed against the glass separating him from the donuts.

Steven continued merrily down the road to the car wash to meet up with his dad, but on his way there he stopped and began to rub his chin. "Hmm... is dad the only guy I look up to?" Steven looked to his right and saw Mr. Smiley, the owner of Funland arcade, sweeping up the floor. Looking up he grinned and waved over at Steven. "He was a Actor/R and B singer, that's pretty impressive. And I do respect someone who can hold a good tune." Steven began staring critically at Mr. Smiley.

As Steven continued to just stand there and stare, Mr. Smiley's hand began to slow its waving down. His mouth quivered, but he kept smiling. Slowly he snuck out of Steven's sight, leaving Steven open to see Sour Cream playing away on Teens of Rage.

"Hmm... Sour Cream is pretty impressive when it comes to games..." Steven continued to rub his chin as he walked down the road. "You know... I don't think I actually have any major male role models." Steven smiled and waved at a group of crabs as they walked by in front of him. "Hard to compete with people as cool, fun, caring, and heroic as the gems though."

Steven ran across the warm sand, grains of it getting flung into his sandals as he headed straight for his father. "Hey dad!" Steven stuck his hand into his paper bad and took out a donut for his dad. "Think fast!" Steven flung the donut at his dad like it was a frisbee.

"Wow! I got it!" Greg ran long and leaped into the air catching the donut in his mouth. Upon landing to the ground he took a big bite out of the donut and placed it into his hand. "Nice shot buddy. Been working on your aim?"

"Yeah, Pearl's been helping me get a better handle on it so I can wield my shield better once I learn how to summon it for more than a few seconds." Steven took out his own donut and took his own big bite into it.

"That's cool, hey? You ready to grill some hotdogs?" Steven grinned widely and let out a string of laughs as he ran over to the hotdog package and ran over to the already prepared grill. "Hey, don't do them all at once!"

The sun was finally setting and Steven and his dad sat watching it as it sunk underneath its watery covers. Greg was relaxingly strumming his ukulele while Steven held his in front of him, his chin rested upon the instrument as the young boy watched the sun descend. "Hey dad, did you have many male role models when you were young?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure. There was Gator Mouth, they were a big inspiration for me to get into music. Uh..." Greg grimaced and blushed. "It didn't turn out too well..." Greg looked quietly down at his ukulele, then a bright smile came and replaced his grimace. "Eh, actually, I think it did turn out pretty well. If not for the music I might not have met your mother."

"Hmm..." Steven turned his head about and was now resting the side of his head on his ukulele. "That's a pretty big impact on your life... did you have any others?"

"Huh, I guess so. There's my old man, taught me to be the man I am today. My mom helped too of course. She helped me the most with me learning the guitar."

"Was she like a rocker or something?" Steven shot his head up with sparkles in his eyes.

"Nah, she just liked playing the music. She never actually went off to make a living on her music. She would have made a killing though." Greg sighed and looked out to the sea with a contemplative look upon his face. "She said she didn't want to make it a career. Said it would ruin her love for playing it." Greg sighed again and his face grew a bit more solemn. "Hope they've been doing well, haven't seen them for a while."

"Hmm, so grandma was a pretty big inspiration for you too huh?" Steven began to rub his chin. "Interesting..." Steven looked up to the sky when he heard some seagulls suddenly cry out. "So... any other female or male role models in your life?"

"What's with the sudden curiosity in role models sport?" Greg grinned and began to ruffle Steven's hair.

"It's just, I started thinking. I have the gems as some pretty big role models in my life, and then there is you. But besides you I don't have any guy role models."

"It's no big deal Steven, the gems are pretty awesome ladies."

Steven nodded and grunted an affirmation. "I know. They are the best role models I could ask for... I was just kind of wondering if there were any guys as cool as them."

"Eh... I don't think we have anyone that can compete with three super heroines Steven." Greg began to rub the back of his head as he watched Steven look out to the sea. "Come to think of it... I don't know if there were any guy gems. I didn't meet any that I can recall..."

"Wait... guy gems?" Steven's eyes began to sparkle as an idea began to form in his head. "That's it! There might not be any guys here that are like the gems, but maybe there is some kind of history stuff that involves some cool male gems." Steven jumped up from his seat and lifted his ukulele up into the sky like a sword. "I know what I must do!" Steven looked to his dad and smiled broadly. "Thanks dad! I'm heading back to the gems."

"Oh sure buddy, been fun hanging with you... uh... what did I do?" Greg watch as Steven quickly began collapsing his lawn chair.

"Inspired me to get my historian on!" Steven ran over to Greg's van which lay nearby and stuffed the lawn chair in. "See you dad! Thanks again!"

After Steven disappeared Greg looked back down to his ukulele and smirked as he continued to strum it. "Getting his historian on, huh? Bet he's going to be seeing his mother all over the place in whatever books the gems got for him."


	3. Faulty Education

"Hey guys! Guys I have a question." Steven opened the door to his home and began looking around the seemingly vacant premises. Turning on the light switch to the house Steven looked over at the couch and saw Amethyst sprawled off snoring softly. "Hey Amethyst! Amethyst!" Steven ran over to her, letting his cheeseburger backpack slide off and fall into the middle of the room. "I have a question, hey... Amethyst? I know you can hear-"

Amethyst raised a finger to Steven's lips and began to hush him. Steven pouted and held his chin, once Amethyst lowered her hand back to where it was before she hushed Steven. Walking over to the door to the temple Steven lifted up his shirt and pressed his gem against the door. "Open... come on..." His gem began to glow and Steven grinned widely as he watched the door glow too.

Stepping back Steven watched with shimmering eyes as the door opened up. The door opened up right in Pearl's room, and to Steven's surprise he saw her exiting the room. At first Pearl didn't notice Steven, but when she bumped into him she stepped back and looked down at him. "Oh, Steven, I wasn't expecting to see you there. Did you need something?"

"Are there guy gems too?!" Steven shouted out with his eyes wide and sparkling.

Pearl pouted and stared with a questioning expression at Steven. "Uh... no..."

Steven then began to frown and his shoulders slumped. "Aw... well that's okay." Steven perked up a bit and laughed at himself. "You know, I was just thinking I don't have any guy role models that are as cool as you guys. I mean, who could compete with you guys."

"Role model? Steven what..." Pearl snapped her finger and let out a short laugh. "Oh, I see. Yes Steven, of course there are gems who have chosen to take on a male appearance. But as you should know, most gems don't actually have a biological sex. You're currently the only one I know of who has any biological sex."

Steven let out a gasp, and held his face. "So there are guy gems?!"

Pearl pouted and crossed her arms. "I didn't say that Steven. I said there are gems that take on male forms. We gems have no sex at all."

"Oh, sure, sure..." Steven crossed his arms and began looking seriously down at the ground. "So uh... do you have any cool stories to tell about these guy gems?"

Pearl continued to pout as she stared frustratedly at Steven. "There are certainly interesting stories for "guy" gems Steven. There are many stories I could tell you, and not just about gems that make themselves look like humans." Pearl's face began to light up as she began to get further into the topic. "There are gems that have taken on forms like machines, or animals, or even plants. Oh! There was this one time when-"

"That's cool Pearl. Buuuuut, what about the guy gems?"

Pearl raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Steven, why are you so interested in guy gems anyway?"

Steven looked away dramatically from Pearl, the currently open window gently caressing his hair. "It's just... I want to find some dude that I can put up on a pedestal with you... Garnet... and Amethyst."

"'Sup." Amethyst lethargically lifted her hand again, and let it fall back down.

Steven looked back to Pearl and grabbed her hands. " Please Pearl, I've never heard the story of a guy gem like me... please. Share with me their legends."

Pearl stared quietly at Steven for a few seconds then ripped her hands out of his. "Steven, I've told you about a ton of male gems, as well as female ones already."

"Huh? I don't remember anything like that." Steven began to rub his head as he contemplated what was said.

"Ugh... Steven." Pearl held her head and shook it. "We've been going over them for months now. Don't you remember any of it?"

Steven bit his lips and stared quietly at Pearl for a moment. Looking to the side, Steven's eyes became slits. "I do not recall this... perhaps you could jog my memory..."

Pearl groaned and held her face. "What am I supposed to do to jog your memory ? State some famous gems like Diamond and her discovery of space travel for all gems, or Ruby and the conquest of the planet Cyrus?" Steven stared blankly at Pearl. "Ugh..."

Amethyst opened one eye and glared over at the two. "Pearl, do the thing."

"The what? Oh, the thing." Pearl raised her hand to her forehead and took in a deep breath. Spinning about on her toes she began to form a holographic scene around her and Steven. A holo Steven and Pearl appeared next to their respective real selves.

Holo Pearl began walking about with her hands clasped as she excitedly spoke,"Now Steven, Malachite had spent weeks just waiting underneath the moor watching the surface for the marble serpent to strike out and... Steven are you listening?"

"Huh?" Holo Steven shook his head and stared blankly at Pearl. "Uh, yeah, suuuure."

"Good, now let's see... where was I?" After the holo scene disappeared, Steven was blushing profusely as he stared up at Pearl who crossed her arms.

"How do you not remember any of that?" Pearl glared down at Steven, who began to sweat.

"I... uh... was trying to remember where I had left my cheeseburger backpack." Steven rubbed the back of his head, then smiled weakly up at Pearl.

"What? What about when I told you about Diamond?"

"Planning a new, less terrifying and more edible, Together Breakfast."

"Ruby?"

"Busy giving the crab that was walking by the kitchen counter a British accent in my head."

"Cubic Zirconia and her delegation to promote the studies of Gem Fusion?"

"..." Steven quietly looked down to his feet, his cheeks puffing out.

Pearl's eye twtiched and she grabbed her face. "Gah, Steven..."

Amethyst yawned and jumped off of the couch. "Can you blame him P? You just drone on, and on, and on..."

Pearl scoffed and turned to face Amethyst. "Fine, why don't you teach him then?" Pearl turned her back on the two and disappeared back into her room.

Amethyst stared blankly at the door as Steven slowly turned to her and grinned broadly. "Uh... I just remembered... I got to put my gooey t-shirt under my... uh... brick." Amethyst jumped over Steven and dashed off to the door, summoning the portal to her room.

"Hey! What about my education?! Don't you value bestowing knoweldge upon the next generation?" Steven chased after Amethyst who was quickly jumping from junk pile to junk pile, which littered her entire room.

"Look, I'd love to Steven, but I am nooot the history teacher type!" Amethyt than disappeared outside of Steven's sight. The only evidence left of her was a can of beans rolling down a pile of beds and televisions.

Steven frowned and crossed his arms. "Pfft... its people like you that are raising the next generation to repeat the mistakes of the past!" Steven folded his arms over his chest and turned about to head back out the door. When he turned however he discovered it had already disappeared. "Uh... Amethyst? Can you let me out?" Steven turned about and found no one responding to him. Biting his lower lip he began to walk through the piles of junk, a humid sticky feeling began to creep up on Steven. "Dang it... last time I got lost in here I had to survive for a night off of old cat food and the occasional slightly stale pizza slice."

As Steven walked on through the mountains of trash he stumbled in a little hole and found his foot sink into some water. "Amethyst?! Are you still here? Amethyst?" Steven sighed, and after a while of walking he stopped at an area with large bodies of water. Sitting down at the edge of one of the bodies of water, Steven looked in at his reflection. "All I wanted was to learn about guy gems... like me." Steven sighed and buried his face into his legs.


End file.
